Chateauneuf-du-Pape is the most southern and important quality-driven appellation in the southern Rhone Valley. You’ll find my top 10 Chateauneuf-du-Pape reviews and ratings here. Surprising Facts about Chateauneuf-du-Pape: The history of Chateauneuf-du-Pape can be traced back to the 14th century when the papal court of Rome relocated to Avignon, close to a limestone quarry for construction purposes. Pope Clement V arrived in Avignon in 1309 during the rebuilding of the papal summer quarters in Calcernier. He ordered the planting of grape vines. His successor John XXII is credited with developing the papal vineyard. This area became known as Chateauneuf-du-Pape, which […]
10 Best Bonarda Wines to Buy Now + 5 Surprising Facts about Bonarda
The most popular Bonarda-based wine in the North American retail market is made in Argentina where it is the second-most planted grape variety, just behind Malbec. You’ll find my most recent Bonarda wine reviews and ratings here. 5 Surprising Facts about Bonarda: 1. Bonarda is a late-ripening grape variety that requires a large shift in temperature from day to night, so that the wine reaches high enough sugar levels without overheating and creating a stewed wine. 2. The Mendoza Valley in Argentina is ideal for creating this climate for the grape and is where the majority of the plantings are. […]
Funny Wine Quotes, Quips and Jokes
I love collecting these: funny quotes, quips and anecdotes. Here’s the latest round of wine and laughter to make you smile. You’ll find the previous round of wine quotes here. May the fourth be with you!
Cool Climate Chardonnay: LCBO Vintages Release July 19
You can access the 87 wines that I reviewed for July 19 as a text wine list with my complete tasting notes, scores, food matches and the stock for each bottle in their closest LCBO stores. You can also see my wine reviews for July 5. You can add my wine picks to their custom shopping list with one click and access that list on their smartphone. This is one of the benefits of becoming a Paid Member. Inventory stock numbers are usually posted online a day or two before the release based on the LCBO doing so. Here […]
How to Stock Your Wine Cellar with $40-$80 Bottles
For those looking to stock their wine cellar in the $40-$80 per bottle range, will notice that many of the budget-friendly wines I recommended also produce premium wines in this category. At this level, wines have greater aging potential, usually at least three to five years, and sometimes longer depending on the producer. Broaden your search to include California, where wines have increased in price dramatically over the past ten years, even though that’s softening somewhat with the currency exchange. The Sunshine State offers great wines in this range, particularly chardonnays and cabernets from Arrowood, Sterling, Frog’s Leap, Kenwood and […]
Wine Cellar: Dream Bottles of a Lifetime
When price isn’t a concern, go for the heavy-hitters that start at one to two hundred dollars per bottle and go up to thousands of dollars per bottle, especially for mature vintages bought at auction. The challenge in this range is finding the wines since many are on limited allocations, and have people on waiting lists to buy them. Almost all of these require aging to taste their best – at least five years, and some up to ten to fifteen years, or longer. Start with California cult cabernets, such as Screaming Eagle, Harlan Estate, Grace Family, Pahlmeyer, Cain Five, […]
How to Build a Custom Wine Cellar: Calm, Cool and Collected
$5,000 – $50,000+ CUSTOM WINE CELLAR As their collection continues to grow past wine racks and wine fridges, some wine drinkers retro-fit their existing basements to make them ideal for wine storage, rather than rely on natural conditions. Since renovating your basement, or building a custom cellar, can involve several trades — electrical work, insulation, carpentry, lighting, engineering, masonry and interior design — it’s advisable to hire an experienced contractor or a cellar consultant. First, analyze your existing basement conditions to identify humidity levels and hot and cold spots, in relation to the ideal range. This will tell you what […]
Wine Fridge as a Wine Cellar: Great Option for Tight Spaces
$2,000 – $10,000 WINE FRIDGES As your wine collection grows, you can keep adding more wine racks; or you can consider buying a wine fridge, an off-the-rack option that suits anyone who has limited space, such condo and small-home dwellers. These fridges are humidity and temperature-controlled for wine. The kitchen fridge is too cold and isn’t humid enough to keep wine long term, wine fridges are specially temperature- and humidity-controlled for wine. Keeping wine in your kitchen fridge for a few days is fine though. Wine fridges come in half, full and double sizes, as well as walk-in Brinks-style vaults. […]
How to Cellar Wine: Temperature, Humidity, Light Conditions
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist understand the basics of wine storage: temperature, humidity and light conditions for wine cellars. Temperature The proper storage temperature of 10 to 15oC enables wine to age slowly to its full complexity. Excess heat cooks off its finer characteristics, while too much chill retards its maturation. Humidity Humidity should also be stable, at about 70 percent, so that corks don’t dry out. When dry, corks shrink slightly, allowing air into the bottles that oxidizes the wine. This is also why bottles are stored on their sides: the wine keeps the cork wet, […]
How to Start a Wine Cellar: Wine Racks for Reality Budgets
You don’t have to live over a limestone cave, or have the budget of an eighteenth-century aristocrat, to cellar wine. Of course, higher-end options exist including wine fridges and custom-built wine cellars. However, you can start as simply as you like, with one wine rack purchased at a home furniture store, and add more as your collection grows. Here are tips on which wines to stock in your cellar. $200 – $5,000 WINE RACKS Set up racks in a cool, dark area of the house, such as the basement, cold storage room or closet that have the best conditions for […]
